title: Altered arginine metabolism in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of maternal immune activation rat offspring.
abstract: Altered arginine metabolism has been implicated in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. The present study measured the levels of L-arginine and its downstream metabolites in the sub-regions of the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and cerebellum in adult rats that had been exposed to maternal immune activation (MIA; a risk factor for schizophrenia). MIA significantly increased L-arginine, L-ornithine and putrescine levels and decreased agmatine levels in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex in a region-specific manner. Correlational analysis revealed a significant neurochemical-behavioural correlation. Cluster analyses showed that L-arginine and its main metabolites formed distinct groups, which changed as a function of MIA. These results demonstrate, for the first time, that MIA leads to altered arginine metabolism in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of the adult offspring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Brain Health Research Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.forename: Hu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Amy R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.forename: David K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Bilkey
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001120:Arginine / Q000378:metabolism*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism*; D007369:Interferon Inducers / Q000633:toxicity; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011070:Poly I-C / Q000633:toxicity; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D007369:Interferon Inducers; D001120:Arginine; D011070:Poly I-C
keywords: ADC; ASL; ASS; Agmatine; DG; GABA; Hippocampus; L-arginine; L-ornithine; MIA; NO; NOS; PFC; PPI; Prefrontal cortex; Putrescine; Schizophrenia; arginine decarboxylase; argininosuccinate lyase; argininosuccinate synthetase; dentate gyrus; maternal immune activation; nitric oxide; nitric oxide synthase; poly I:C; polyinosinic:polycytidilic acid; pre-pulse inhibition; prefrontal cortex; γ-aminobutyric acid